Popsicle Stick Shapes

Sweet Pea is 31 months old.

From: I have seen similar ides is several places: Chasing Cheerios , Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary and My Two Happy Homeschoolers.

Material:

• About 20 Popsicle craft sticks.
• Markers.
• Several sheets of paper.

Procedure:

• On three Popsicle sticks, write the word “TRIANGLE” in the middle and draw a small triangle near both ends.
• On four Popsicle sticks, write the word “SQUARE” in the middle and draw a small square near both ends.
• On six Popsicle sticks, write the word “RECTANGLE” in the middle and draw a small square near both ends.
• On four Popsicle sticks, write the word “DIAMOND” in the middle and draw a small diamond near both ends.
• (Depending on your toddler’s ability and your enthusiasm, you could create enough Popsicle stick pieces for any other shapes you want them to know (hexagon, rhombus, trapezoid, etc.)
• Set the TRIANGLE labeled Popsicle sticks on a sheet of paper in the shape of a triangle and draw an outline around each one so there a triangle shape on the paper.  Repeat for the rest of your shapes.

• Sit next to your tot and tell them you are going to make some shapes.  Set the 3 TRIANGLE labeled Popsicle sticks in front of you and then demonstrate laying them on the outline.
• Remove them from the outline and ask your tot to try it on their own.
• Repeat for the rest of the shapes.

Observations: Sweet Pea had a great time with this.  It was a little harder than I expected for her to lay the Popsicle sticks on the outline, but it was a good challenge.  After I had showed her each of the shapes, she was able to work independently.

After she would make a shape, Sweet Pea would jump up and down and clap for herself, saying, “Good Job!”  It was so cute.

This was a great, quick activity for Sweet Pea and I would recommend it for other tots.

Notes from the Trenches: When I first tried this, I didn’t make an outline of the shapes.  I figured that Sweet Pea would easily be able to put the Popsicle sticks into the correct shapes after she had seen me do it once, but I was wrong.  She was totally lost until I drew the outlines.   Melissa from Chasing Cheerios suggested gluing together model control shapes first so that your tot will have something to copy.   I think that is a great idea and  would have done it instead, but I was short on Popsicle sticks.

Rating: 4 Stars * (Fun, Easy, Independent, Frugal)